The present invention relates to a composition for use in animal nutrition comprising a controlled release matrix and to a method for preparing said composition.
Moreover, the present invention relates to a method for the treatment of monogastric animals in which said composition is used as addition of active substances such as for instance organic acids and/or inorganic acids for preserving and acidifying food for monogastric animals, including swine, sheep, rabbits, birds, horses, pets and humans.
It is known that new-born swine (as also other animal species) have a poor gastric secretion of hydrochloric acid.
The low level of hydrochloric acid anyhow enables the digestion of milk proteins, whereas it is not sufficient for a complete digestion of proteins of a different origin (for instance soybean, potato and fish proteins).
New-born swine therefore have a secretive capacity that is suitable for milk feeding but insufficient when breeding techniques and feeding regulations provide for precocious weanings.
In the pre-weaning stage the fermentation of lactose that is present in milk by means of the autochthonous flora is the best defense against the settling of unwanted microflora.
Weaning strongly reduces the introduction of lactose and animals have to develop other defensive mechanisms in order to contrast the proliferation of pathogenic enterobacteria.
The increasing secretion of gastric hydrochloric acid slowly occurring after weaning creates an unfavorable environment for pathogenic microorganisms entering the intestinal portion.
It is also known that pH in the gastro-intestinal system varies according to the portion taken into consideration.
As a matter of fact, stomach has a pH of 2.0-5.0; duodenum has a pH of 4 to 6; jejunum has a pH of 6.0 to 7.0; cecum has a pH of 6.0 to 6.5; and eventually colon has a pH of 6.5 to 7.0.
It is known about the “barrier” effect of the acid environment within the gastric system, acting as an antibacterial defense so as to limit the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria within animals.
In general the acid environment inhibits the growth of bacterial and fungin cells, and some particular types of acids can also contrast the germination and growth of bacterial spores.
However, a microbial resistance to weak organic acids may arise, which can involve various mechanisms.
As far as bacteria are concerned, there is a deep knowledge on their intrinsic mechanisms of inducible resistance against these compounds.
Preservatives can easily get into the cells of gram-positive bacteria whose intrinsic resistance is relatively low for most of them. An exception consists of acid-resistant bacteria (for instance lactic acid producers), which maintain an efficient metabolism also with relatively low cytoplasmic pH values, thus tolerating the accumulation of organic acids within the cell.
In gram-negative bacteria resistance mechanisms are more complicated.
Resistance mechanisms that can be induced in microorganisms have recently been studied more extensively.
It is known that bacterial cells face a lot of factors of potential stresses in their natural “habitat”, such as for instance a very low pH value in the stomach or the physiological presence of high amounts of weak organic acids (volatile fatty acids) in the intestine.
Actually, some pathogenic organisms can develop a tolerance feedback to acids consisting in a complex defense system allowing cells to survive in case pH values should sink up to 3. Furthermore, it has also been observed that a tolerance feedback to weak organic acids occurs after the exposition to a pH value below 3.
Such situation can take place and involve among other things an increase of pathogenicity (minimum infecting dose) of some enterobacteriaceae.
Moreover, some bacteria, such as for instance Salmonella typhimurium, can develop a tolerance feedback to acids with pH 3 after a previous exposition to a weak acid with pH 5.
Therefore, there is the need for a composition that can contrast the development and proliferation of pathogenic bacteria and fungi in food and in animals' gastro-intestinal system.
In particular, there is the need for a composition for feeding monogastric animals comprising a controlled release matrix and a selected mixture of active substances, which can contrast the development of unwanted microflora in food.
Furthermore, there is the need for a composition for zootechnical and veterinary use comprising a controlled release matrix and a selected mixture of active substances, which can adjust intestinal microbism so as to contrast the proliferation of unwanted intestinal microflora in animals.
The main aim of the present invention is to provide a composition for feeding monogastric animals comprising a released control matrix and a selected mixture of active substances.
Another aim of the present invention is to provide a method for preparing said composition.
A further aim of the present invention is to provide a particular matrix that can carry and release in a controlled way the components of the selected mixture of active substances within the gastro-intestinal portion of animals including humans.
Finally, a still further aim of the present invention is to provide the use of a matrix that can carry and release a selected mixture of active substances for preparing a composition for treating intestinal dysmicrobism.
These and other aims that will be evident from the following detailed description have been achieved by the Applicant, who has found it useful to prepare a composition for feeding monogastric animals.